Pride
This is an article not related to the Captain Tsubasa in-universe series but to other Takahashi's works. Pride or Hokori (誇り-プライド-, alternatively PRIDE instead of the katakana or simply PRIDE altogether) is a seinen drama manga series written and illustrated by Yoichi Takahashi in which the sport of football is featured. Of all comic series of Takahashi, Pride is thematically the most mature and complex, with a deeper narrative than previous works. The comic series was first irregularly serialized from issue #2252 to #2293 of the magazine Weekly Manga Goraku, a publication focused on a mature public that is affectionately called a middle-aged Jump, published by Nihon Bungeisha in the period of February to December 2011. After almost a year and a half on hiatus, the series returned from issues #2362 to #2389 of the same magazine in the period of April to November 2013. With a total of 33 chapters (including the 7-page long prologue), the series was compiled in four tankobon volumes and is also available in ebook format in several popular digital services such as iBooks and Amazon Kindle among many others. These volumes are also currently being published in Italy by the Italian publisher Goen. The stories focus on the struggles of footballers who were former stars in the J. League Division 1 (J1) and now play in the J. League Division 2 (J2) in new harsher conditions, keeping their pride to keep on playing football despite setbacks in their lives. All clubs and footballers mentioned in the story are fictional, but are based on real life counterparts. Besides taking place in the J2 instead of the J1, Pride gained extra-notoriety in the Japanese football community for a full homage chapter dedicated to Japanese footballer Naoki Matsuda, who perished on 4 August 2011. It is also infamous among Japanese otaku for being the first series of Takahashi, known for romantic comedies and light romance dramas, that deals with a netorare scene in an important point of the plot of the fourth story arc. Summary The plot is divided in four arcs: *'Pride 1: "The defender of the number 9"' (番号9のディフェンダー) - Yoshida is a former talented Olympic representative who played as a forward (FW). After being injured for two years, he is discharged from his club Albino Niigata (アルビーノ新潟) of the J1 and is transferred to the Hakodate Troopers (函館トゥルーパーズ), where he is unable to score so he will now have to play as a defender (DF). *'Pride 2: "Shinichiro Kamitsuka's melancholy"' (神塚伸一郎の憂鬱前半戦) - The manager of the Hakodate Troopers is the protagonist of this arc. *'Pride 3: "Pride does not stop"' (やめない誇り) - Naoki Matsuba appears in the stadium to retire from the team after 16 years. Arc of a single chapter dedicated to the memory of Naoki Matsuda. Several characters who are pastiches of real life players appear in this chapter. *'Pride 4: "From then a couple: Same thoughts, different places"' (あれから二人 -同じ想い 違う場所-) - The longest arc which is covered in the last three compiled volumes. The story narrates the daily life of Kono, a famous forward of the J1, who gets gravely injured and tries to return to the playing field with a team of the J2. This arc is subdivided in: **Prologue (プロローグ) **Part 1: Hiro & Saori (ヒロとサオリ) **Part 2: Hiro, Midori & Nobu (ヒロとミドリとノブ) **Part 3: Hiro & Kaori (ヒロとカオリ) Main characters * Masato Yoshida (吉田真人, yoshida masato) - Protagonist of the first arc. An excellent striker before an injury forced him to change teams and become a DF after being unable to score. * Keigo Iwazami (岩住圭吾, iwazami keigo) - Co-protagonist of the first arc. A former Japan national team member who is playing his last season and shows Yoshida the ropes as a DF. * Shinichiro Kamitsuka (神塚伸一郎, kamitsuka shinichirou) - Manager of the Hakodate Troopers and protagonist of the second arc. Based on Takashi Sekizuka, manager of the Japan U-23 football team at the time of the serialization. * Naoki Matsuba (松葉直樹, matsuba naoki) - Character based on Naoki Matsuda. 33 years old, he plays for the Yokohama Marines (横浜マリンズ) and is even called Mr. Yokohama Marines. Arc 3 is about him retiring from the team to go to the Japan Football League (JFL) to play for the Matsumoto Miyabi (松本雅) in his final professional years. The real Naoki Matsuda played with Yokohama Marinos in the J1 and, for a few months before dying, with the Matsumoto Yamaga in the JFL, a league which is below the J2. * Hiroaki Kono (河野弘明, kouno hiroaki) aka Hiro (ヒロ) - Protagonist of the fourth story arc. Nicknamed "Mr. Hat-trick", during a match he gets injured so severely that his J1 club, the Urawa Red Dragons (浦和レッドドラゴンス), considering also his age, decides not to renovate his contract. While thinking about retirement, the team Oita Phoenix (大分フェニックス, ouita phoenix) of the J2 offers him a spot at a lower salary, but with full medical care to recover from his injury. * Midori (みどり, ミドリ) - Kono's girlfriend. The prototypical heroine of Takahashi's works. * Kaori Suda (須田かおり, suda kaori aka Kaori, カオリ) - Kono's attending physician. * Saori Suda (須田さおり, suda saori aka Saori, サオリ) - Kaori's deceased younger sister. Due to her poor health, she was hospitalized on and off and had to move to Oita to be treated for most of her short life. She knew Kono and one of her few pleasures was taking photographies of him. She died at 14 years old. * Nobu (ノブ) - Kono's team mate from the Urawa Red Dragons. A womaniser. Development In an interview, Takahashi mentioned that he chose pride as the topic of the series because in Japanese football many players, such as Kazuyoshi Miura, keep on playing even after their peak has passed, with the only motivation being their pride which doesn't get extinguished. He also commented that he decided to change the protagonist of the story between arcs inspired by baseball manga Yakyukyo no Uta of Shinji Mizushima which was a favourite of Takahashi as a child."「漫画家としての誇りは●●」『キャプ翼』高橋陽一が新作発売記念サイン会を開催" ["Pride as a cartoonist..." Captain Tsubasa's Yoichi Takahashi holds a commemorative autograph session for a new work release.] (in Japanese). Daily Cyzo. cyzo. 2012-01-16. Retrieved 2014-11-17. Chapters and serialization Gallery Japanese edition Pride_1.jpg|#1, 2011-12-28, ISBN 9784537128383, 176p Pride_2.jpg|#2, 2013-02-19, ISBN 9784537130843, 174p Pride_3.jpg|#3, 2013-11-18, ISBN 9784537130966, 170p Pride_4.jpg|#4, 2013-12-19, ISBN 9784537131116, 176p Italian edition Pride_it_1.jpg|#1 2014-10-11, Mega Collection #9, Goen, ISBN 9788867122721 (direct market) / ISBN 9778109166002-40001 (news-stands), 176p Others Pride_Matsuba.jpg|Page from the 3rd arc. Pride_arc_3_players.jpg|Some of the players mentioned in the 3rd arc. Pride_Hiro,_Midori_and_Nobu.jpg|Pages from the 4th arc, part 2. Pride_promotional_1.jpg|Promotional image Pride_promotional_2.jpg|Promotional image Pride_promotional_3.jpg|Promotional image Previews Pride_1_preview01.jpg Pride_1_preview02.jpg Pride_1_preview03.jpg Pride_1_preview04.jpg Pride_1_preview05.jpg Pride_1_preview06.jpg Pride_1_preview07.jpg Pride_1_preview08.jpg Pride_1_preview09.png Pride_1_preview10.png Pride_1_preview11.jpg Pride_1_preview12.jpg Pride_2_preview01.jpg Pride_2_preview02.jpg Pride_2_preview03.jpg Pride_2_preview04.jpg Pride_2_preview05.jpg Pride_2_preview06.jpg Pride_2_preview07.png Pride_2_preview08.png Pride_2_preview09.png Pride_2_preview10.png Pride_2_preview11.png Pride_2_preview12.png Pride_2_preview13.png Pride_2_preview14.jpg Pride_2_preview15.jpg Pride_2_preview16.jpg Pride_2_preview17.jpg Pride_2_preview18.jpg Pride_2_preview19.jpg Pride_3_preview01.jpg Pride_3_preview02.jpg Pride_3_preview03.png Pride_3_preview04.jpg Pride_3_preview05.jpg Pride_3_preview06.png Pride_3_preview07.png Pride_3_preview08.png Pride_3_preview09.png Pride_3_preview10.png Pride_3_preview11.png Pride_3_preview12.jpg Pride_3_preview13.jpg Pride_3_preview14.png Pride_3_preview15.png Pride_3_preview16.png Pride_3_preview17.jpg Pride_3_preview18.jpg Pride_4_preview01.jpg Pride_4_preview02.jpg Pride_4_preview03.jpg Pride_4_preview04.png Pride_4_preview05.png Pride_4_preview06.png Pride_4_preview07.png Pride_4_preview08.png Pride_4_preview09.png Pride_4_preview10.png Pride_4_preview11.png Pride_4_preview12.png Pride_4_preview13.png Pride_4_preview14.png Pride_4_preview15.png Pride_4_preview16.png Pride_4_preview17.png Pride_4_preview18.png Pride_4_preview19.jpg Pride_4_preview20.jpg Videos To promote the comic, YouTube channel Mangapolo produced a few videos of an interview between Yoichi Takahashi and retired Japanese footballer Masashi Nakayama, who from 2010 to 2012 played with football club Consadole Sapporo when it was in J2 and helped it ascend to J1, similar to the frame of the story of Pride. File:第1話【誇り-プライド】高橋陽一×中山雅史～スペシャル対談～|Masashi Nakayama x Yoichi Takahashi Special Interview 1/5 - In Sapporo File:第2話【誇り-プライド】高橋陽一×中山雅史～スペシャル対談～|Masashi Nakayama x Yoichi Takahashi Special Interview 2/5 - Difference between J1 and J2 File:第3話【誇り-プライド】高橋陽一×中山雅史～スペシャル対談～|Masashi Nakayama x Yoichi Takahashi Special Interview 3/5 - Running until the end File:第4話【誇り-プライド】高橋陽一×中山雅史～スペシャル対談～|Masashi Nakayama x Yoichi Takahashi Special Interview 4/5 - When Nakayama read Captain Tsubasa File:第5話【誇り-プライド】高橋陽一×中山雅史～スペシャル対談～|Masashi Nakayama x Yoichi Takahashi Special Interview 5/5 - Expectations regarding Pride References External links *Vol. 1 info at Nihon Bungeisha website (Japanese) *Vol. 2 info at Nihon Bungeisha website (Japanese) *Vol. 3 info at Nihon Bungeisha website (Japanese) *Vol. 4 info at Nihon Bungeisha website (Japanese) *ebooks at BookWalker (Japanese) *ebooks at eBook Initiative Japan (Japanese) }} Category:Other works of Yoichi Takahashi